What was “night starvation” anyway?

It seemed to be a big worry in times past. My mother's friend, a large lady (!), suffered from this interesting condition.

Oh I remember!
Something my dogs often seem to have suffered from and from my point of view, a good excuse for a milky bedtime drink.
Don’t know what Michael Moseley would make of the theory though!

My Dad always had an Ovaltine and four biscuits for supper. He said it settled him for the night ?

He was never overweight.

It was an advertising slogan devised to increase the market for milky drinks by suggesting you were suffering from a condition that didn't exist.

... and that a hot milky drink at bedtime would cure it.

M0nica

It was an advertising slogan devised to increase the market for milky drinks by suggesting you were suffering from a condition that didn't exist.

I think we knew that * M0nica* - even in those days

Cf “trapped wind” products. As long as it stays “trapped” there’s no problem!

I think it was dreamed up by Horlicks or Ovaltine during WWII. At that time, although correctly fed, people missed out on lots of treats.
I suffered from it as a child, apparently.

Oh I remember Horlicks. Didn't they give out a jug at one time and a thing to mix it, like a plunger of metal with holes in it? Going to have to google it!

Turns out there's loads of different ones. This is the mixer I remember www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/pottery-horlicks-mixer-metal-plunger-162964118

I remember my grandmother having a bakelite Horlicks mug, with a nightcap cover which I always used to ask for! The smell whilst drinking (anything) was unforgettable!

I had one of those mixers, but made of glass. I used it to mix orange juice and raw egg into a drink.
I was very upset when I broke it.

I sometimes wake up in a very bad mood and I've realised that that happens if I haven't eaten enough the day before.
So now I make sure to have some sort of supper before bedtime.

I don't eat after 6pm and sleep like a log. No drink either so I'm rarely up in the night.

We always had supper around 9pm . Might just have been a plate of sandwiches or something cooked like cheese pudding and homemade chips.We were all thin .Then we'd wake up to the smell of bacon or smoked haddock being fried for breakfast with toast.Playpieces for school breaks ,2 course lunches and dinners .We were much more active then

ixion

I remember my grandmother having a bakelite Horlicks mug, with a nightcap cover which I always used to ask for! The smell whilst drinking (anything) was unforgettable!

Ixion seeing the Horlicks mug brought back so many happy memories. I don't remember a night cover with my Grans. It had probably got lost but I remember the mug being used an awful lot. Thank you for posting it

We didn’t get the warning drink - my granny fed us malt extract straight from the jar. I actually still like it!

Did no-one else think night starvation was something entirely different?

Love Horlicks, does anyone remember those little packets of Horlick sweets.

I went looking for this!

youtu.be/qMyY1hTqTzc

I was thinking night feeds for babies ... ?

I well remember my father giving a certain sort of chuckle at this ad, and he wasn’t thinking of Horlicks!

Yes, Barmeyoldbat - I could really fancy some of those now!

It was a big issue after WW2, my Mum was v worried because she considered me too 'skinny' - mainly because I was a picky eater and our diet was very bland and repetitive. Think, no vegs out of season and no veg from overseas, hardly any meat or fats available, even bread was rationed. The favourite vegs at meals was a mix of carrots and Swede (my husband still loves it)
So mothers would have flocked to buy Ovaltine and other high calorie additions for their children
Yes we possibly were on the cusp of starvation although most were more healthy than they'd ever been - thanks to rationing which gave us an adequate, if boring, diet.
I remember craving sweetness.

My boys (now in their 40’s) cottoned on to ‘night starvation’ when they were of primary age which led to frequent little trips downstairs at 9:30pm demanding a snack to ward off night starvation.

That sort of advertising still goes on, though, with the likes of Toddler Formula and Growing Up milk being marketed to us.

I have an aversion to fresh milk and all those 'lovely' hot milky drinks. I spent a lot of time in hospital as a child andI became adept at accepting my 'nice milky drink' and quietly disposing of it down the sink, or, when the children's ward was on the ground floor, out of the window.

When I was 13, a nurse caught me doing this and promptly made another mug and stood over me as I tried to drink it. It made me sick and at that moment the ward sister appeared, asked what had happened and there and then told the nurse off for the event. She was a noticeably unpleasant nurse and I guess the sister had her measure. I never had to accept a milky drink again.

MayBeMaw

M0nica

It was an advertising slogan devised to increase the market for milky drinks by suggesting you were suffering from a condition that didn't exist.

I think we knew that * M0nica* - even in those days

Cf “trapped wind” products. As long as it stays “trapped” there’s no problem!

Where 'ere you be, let the wind blow free
Church or chapel, let it rattle!